[Open Post] Heathen Open Post

[jprussell]

Howdy,

So, I'm looking to strengthen some connections among Ecosophia-adjacent Heathens, and an easy first step seemed to be a regular open post here on my dreamwidth.

A few ground rules:

1. The overall goal here is for folks interested in Heathenry to meet, share resources, and so forth. So, even though I won't draw a hard line on "on-topic" against "off-topic," it would be best if posts have something to do with Germanic/Northern European polytheism, whether ancient or modern.


2. Let's keep things civil. Disagreement is welcome, but insults, rudeness, and attacks are not.


3. I don't expect enough traffic to need to put a hard limit on when this post will be open, but once the next open post goes up, please post any new discussions there.

Otherwise, welcome, and kindly say hello!

Comments

Introduction

[borealbear]

Hey, thank you for doing this, and hope to see a good cross-section of Heathen JMG readers here. A brief introduction from me as well: I'm Norwegian, late thirties, used to be a Dawkins-style materialist in my twenties, but have somehow found my way into esotericism and even religion in no small part due to reading JMG for a decade and change. Hope you don't mind that I'd rather not share my real name, but dogmatic materialism is still the order of the day in my circles, and I'd prefer if people I know in real life don't know I'm involved in these kinds of practices. At least not for a good while yet.

Anyway, even while I was an atheist, I always had a lot of affection for the Norse/Germanic Gods and thought it would have been awesome if they actually existed and could be worshipped. It just felt like wishful thinking to me. I eventually decided to give ceremonial magic a try, since it seemed like a beautiful artform in itself and also something I could really use to change my life for the better, and religion sort of followed from that.

In terms of esoteric practice I've followed a similar path to our host Jeff in many ways: started with JMG and Sven Eriksen's old Heathen Golden Dawn rituals, then went on to various Druid Revival practices for a while when the full HDG system didn't materialize. While I have a lot of respect and sympathy for the Druid Revival, though, I've always felt more comfortable with Germanic than Celtic myth and Gods. And so when Isaac Hill's new HDG finally came out, I gave it a try for old time's sake and had what I can only call a significant experience, which combined with divination led to me to believe I should follow this path. That was last August, and by now I'm both working on finishing up the first grade of the HDG and trying to feel my way into a Heathen religious practice that feels right and makes sense, even if my atheist baggage still makes it awkward sometimes. (As an aside, I'll admit I've been falling a bit behind with the Heathen Rosary project and concentrated on the GD stuff, but I do absolutely intend to get back to it and write up some prayers.)

As for the folkish vs universalist conflict, I agree that trying to gatekeep religious practice by ethnicity seems both silly and petty. Isn't that a matter between the individual and the Gods? Who am I to make myself judge of that? And of course we do have a real problem with racists in our midst. That said...sometimes it's hard not to feel the knee-jerk sniping at those oh so evilly evil "folkists" is another strand of politically correct American Team Blue-style posturing too. Especially in places like Heathen Reddit, where there anything that's remotely "folkish" is immediately banished as wrongthink.

Or in other words: I support the right of individual groups to decide who they want to admit, and I do think there's a difference between actual straight-up racists (ie. people who sincerely believe white skin or European ancestry makes someone more moral or intelligent) and people who don't feel non-European people are inferior in any way but simply want their own ethnic religion. I think the main problem for me is when they link it to skin color, which is so abitrary. And of course many of these people tend to be Americans with little to no direct connection to Scandinavian culture anyway, not to mention how present-day Scandinavian culture has very little in common with the Norse era to begin with. So I suppose like most things, it's complicated.

In terms of aspects of Gods, I don't have any strong feelings, other than one: I personally strongly prefer to view Freya and Frigg(a) as distinct Goddesses. Maybe because I identify much more with the things Frigg represents and would feel more inclined to worship Her than Freya.

Finally, I'm considering traveling to the public blot at Gamla Uppsala in Sweden, which is only about five hour's drive from where I live. I've never met any actual practicing Heathens in real life, so could be interesting. Do any of you have experiences with events like this?